The fall of a maker icon: how Josef Prusa lost the 3D printing race

For years, the name Josef Prusa was practically synonymous with desktop 3D printing. His open-source legacy, charismatic presentations, and early innovations made him a darling of the maker movement. But somewhere along the way, the visionary became a gatekeeper. And as Prusa Research clung to past glory, others surged ahead.

The turning point wasn’t just a change in hardware or print speed — it was a philosophical split: one side pushing true innovation, the other protecting an increasingly outdated kingdom propped up by marketing, influence, and a fiercely loyal inner circle.

This post isn't about canceling Josef Prusa. It's about asking hard questions:
What happens when a once-revolutionary figure becomes the bottleneck of progress? What happens when criticism is silenced, and praise is bought?

From Open-Source hero to closed-minded kingpin

In the early days, Prusa’s embrace of open-source principles made him a beacon in the DIY world. His designs were forked, remixed, and improved by thousands of makers across the globe. But as the business grew, something shifted.

The openness began to fade. Community input was reduced to praise or rejection. Dissenting voices were quietly removed from forums. Criticism — whether about software bugs, slow innovation, or hardware flaws — was met with deflection or, worse, with dog-piling from fanboys. The message was clear: "If you're not with us, you're against us!"

Instead of reinvesting profits into true research and development, Prusa doubled down on brand defense — shaping the narrative across Reddit, Discord, and YouTube. Partnerships with influencers bloomed, many of whom suddenly forgot how to speak critically of Prusa’s increasingly dated lineup.

Meanwhile, the firmware stagnated. The hardware felt like a refined relic rather than a forward leap. While the MK4 and XL tried to catch up, they were already miles behind.

Enter Bambu Lab: what innovation looks like

And then came Bambu Lab — a company that delivered, overnight, what many thought impossible. Out-of-the-box speed, easy multi-color printing, automated calibration, cloud integration, and an attention to usability that most “legacy” manufacturers hadn’t even considered.

More importantly, they didn’t just copy. They innovated — fast. And while they’re not open-source (a point Prusa fans often raise), they’ve introduced more real-world progress in two years than Prusa has in five.

Instead of fighting back with new ideas, Prusa and his loyalists fought with old rhetoric: “They're Chinese.” “They're closed-source.” “They’re bad for the community.”

But users didn’t care. Because the community is tired of gatekeeping disguised as guardianship. What they want is printers that work, evolve, and don’t require jumping through ideological hoops to be part of the club.

While Prusa Research continues to rest on its past achievements, its refusal to evolve technically has become impossible to ignore. The company still relies on Marlin firmware — a robust but aging solution — and despite frequently touting its commitment to open-source ideals, it hasn’t even managed to implement Klipper on its own machines. Meanwhile, the much-praised PrusaSlicer has remained relatively stagnant. Ironically, Bambu Lab, often criticized by Prusa loyalists for being closed-source, forked PrusaSlicer to develop Bambu Studio — a slicer that has seen constant improvements and features Prusa simply refuses to adopt, likely out of pride. The pricing disparity only deepens the frustration: the Prusa Mini+ is nearly €500 and doesn’t even include a filament sensor. Compare that to Bambu Lab’s A1 Mini — just €199, with the sensor built-in, better performance, and even support for a multi-color AMS Lite add-on while still staying under the €500 mark. The contrast is embarrassing.

A cult of influence: the Prusa protection machine

The most insidious part of this decline isn’t just the stagnation. It’s the protection machine built around it.

Online communities — even those meant to be open — are often moderated or indirectly influenced by Prusa-friendly voices. Reddit threads get locked. Constructive criticism is downvoted into oblivion. Videos that dare compare a Bambu printer favorably get flooded with comments about “supporting open-source,” while Prusa’s own source code updates remain sluggish.

Meanwhile, YouTubers and media outlets often walk on eggshells. Why? Because access, samples, affiliate programs, and invitations to exclusive events are valuable — and being critical of Prusa could mean getting cut off.

This is not a healthy ecosystem. It’s a cartel of thought, where visibility is granted based on allegiance, not merit.

The real loss: a community betrayed

The saddest part of this story isn’t Prusa’s fall from dominance — it’s the betrayal of the very values he once claimed to defend. Open-source became a shield, not a philosophy. Community became a fanbase, not a shared mission.

And in the end, it’s not Prusa who suffers — it’s the thousands of makers who trusted him to lead the way, only to realize they’ve been standing still while the industry moved on.

Prusa Research still makes decent printers. But being "good enough" isn’t enough anymore — not when better, faster, and smarter alternatives are already on the table.